View from the US Treasury building on December 30, 2024 in Washington, DC, USA. The U.S. Treasury Department suffered a cyber attack by Chinese state-sponsored attackers in early December.
Celal Gunes | Anadolu | Getty Images
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that hackers from the Chinese government had breached the U.S. Treasury Department, which enforces economic sanctions, and identified the targets of a cyberattack the Treasury Department disclosed earlier this week.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, said hackers breached the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Office of Financial Investigation, and also targeted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s office.
The department said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this week that hackers stole classified documents in a “major incident.” It did not say which users or departments were affected.
Asked about the paper’s report, Chinese Embassy Spokesperson in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said the US’s “unreasonable” claims had “no basis in fact” and amounted to a “slanderous attack” against the Chinese government. .
The statement said China was “combatting all forms of cyberattacks” and did not directly address the Washington Post’s reporting on specific targets.
The Ministry of Finance did not respond to requests for comment on the newspaper report.
The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, said Beijing’s biggest area of concern would be Chinese companies that the U.S. government might consider targeting with financial sanctions.
A Treasury Department letter earlier this week said hackers had breached BeyondTrust, a third-party cybersecurity service provider.
Chinese companies, individuals, and entities are often subject to U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. government has used sanctions as an important foreign policy tool toward China.
The U.S. considers China its biggest foreign policy challenge, with Yellen telling Reuters last month that the U.S. is seeking to cut Russia’s oil revenues and access to foreign supplies in order to foment a war in Ukraine. He said he would not rule out sanctions against Chinese banks.
